Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for attending, for their submissions and for the efforts they have made in this area. I listened very carefully and, while I disagree with some parts of what was said, I will take them on board, as I will the comments of my colleagues.

I am slightly concerned that we got into a broader discussion about penal policy, rather than the specifics of the Bill, and this is something that tends to happen when a group of politicians comes together. The specifics of the Bill are designed to deal with an issue that everyone recognises is a problem, namely, that people out on bail are committing serious offences. We need to determine what can be done in respect of that. I am absolutely certain that there is no single solution to it and I do not suggest that this legislation is the solution at all. I am also concerned that the Bill was reflected on as being the solution to other problems. It is not. It seeks to deal with the significant, specific issue in our society in which people on bail commit serious offences.

I identified politicians as being different from other people because we have been in rooms with families whose sons or daughters have been subjected to very serious crimes, including murder or rape, were committed by people out on bail. They ask what we, as legislators, are doing about this and I reply to the effect that we changed the law after a constitutional referendum in 1996, when 75% of the population voted in favour. We can see from the statistics, however, that the legislation in question is not working. Legislation is not the only solution but it is part of it. We are only legislators and we can only make law so we need to look at where we can make the law better.

I value the work done by the IPRT and I was at the recent launch of the report on the prison system, though I did not see Deputy Wallace there. It is a fantastic report and I commend the organisation on the work it does in respect of prisoners' rights. As Ms Malone said, however, these are not incompatible things. We should reduce the numbers in our prisons and we should promote and protect prisoners' rights but there are extremely violent men in our society who attack women, commit assaults on other men and have murdered people. We cannot say we just need to broaden resources or that legislation is not the answer. Legislation is the only answer we have in our toolbox. We need to recognise that there is an issue and I do not believe the legislation is unconstitutional. We put a provision into the Constitution to allow a court to refuse bail where it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence by the person involved. If a court believes that a person before it who is applying for bail is reasonably likely to commit a serious offence, the court should refuse bail. We should state that. I used the term "mandatory" but this does not remove judicial discretion as the judge has to assess whether there is a likelihood of a person committing an offence. If a judge believes that an individual before him or her is going to commit a serious offence, he or she should refuse bail. I do not think it will have the effect of creating chaos on prison landings. We need to recognise that a small number of men are involved in serious repeated offences, something we have seen recently in some court decisions, and we, as legislators, we, as legislators, need to take steps to deal with it.

It is right to say that electronic monitoring is on the Statute Book since 2007. However, the relevant legislative provision has not yet been commenced in respect of bail. We do not want to put people in prison unnecessarily but this is a means of keeping people out of prison. It is a means of monitoring people for the purposes of bail by identifying where they are. It will not stop the commission of an offence but it will assist the court and gardaí in detecting whether or not the individual was involved in the commission of an offence, and it will act as a serious deterrent. Carrying on the way we are doing is not a solution.